Here’s Hoping for Better Conditions on Wednesday | Kilo Record Attempt Again

In an effort to set a new V-bottom speed record, the Fountain Powerboats team made one pass on North Carolina’s Pamlico River today in unfavorable conditions and plans to make another attempt on Wednesday. Photo Credit: Jason Johnson/Speedonthewater.com

While you could feel the disappointment radiating from the enormous group that was in town to sanction, host, facilitate and observe the world record attempt staged by the Fountain Powerboats team in Washington, N.C., this morning, no one was left hanging their heads after the 40-foot canopied Fountain driven by Jeff Harris and throttled by Reggie Fountain, III, fell short on its attempt to break the American Power Boat Association Unlimited V-bottom kilometer speed record that was set in 2014 when a 43-foot Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats V-bottom recorded an average speed of 180.464-mph on the same Pamlico River course.

Fountain Powerboats founder Reggie Fountain, II, who now serves as a figurehead for the company he no longer owns, provided a straightforward answer when asked if he was disappointed that the record wasn’t returned to the Fountain camp today — he was in the 42-foot Fountain when it set the previous record of 171.880 mph in 2004.

… if you forget that and fight those conditions near 200 mph, you’re probably going to die doing it … – Reggie Fountain, II

“Here’s the deal, when you do something like this you just have to remember who’s in charge—and that’s the Lord,” Fountain, II, said after this morning’s unfavorable breezy conditions prevented the team from making any more than the one back-and-forth pass on the one-kilometer course, which netted a top speed of 130 mph in one direction and 150 mph the other way. “And if you forget that and fight those conditions near 200 mph, you’re probably going to die doing it. He told us look at this water, look at this crosswind and look at all these boats running around on the weekend, you don’t need to do this. So I told my guys — my son and Jeff — it’s your call but if it was me, and I’ve been in a lot of races, I wouldn’t do it because it’s too rough to go that fast.”

Fountain II said the team spent time looking ahead at the weather forecast and it’s going to wait out the incoming storm front and hopefully get a cool, crisp day with good water to take advantage of for the next planned attempt on Wednesday morning.

“The good Lord is in charge—he’s been in charge with everything I’ve done to this point in my life — so we had to do what he told us to do with the weather,” he added.